by Mary Wakefield Buxton –
NAPLES, Fla. —
No sooner had we arrived in Florida when we read a limited number of the first of two COVID-19 shots would be offered to anyone 65 or older through the public health department. We simply had to show up at a certain time, on a certain day and we would be given the shot.
Fortunately, we had enough sense to sense a train wreck and skip that chaos. It was a madhouse.
Imagine thousands of seniors (there are an estimated 300,000 resident seniors older than age 65 in Collier County alone, not counting tourists) that started lining up, many the evening before the shots, some on walkers, who stood all night in cold temperatures with no water, chairs or bathroom facilities just to get a vaccine.
When the site opened the next morning, new arrivals rushed to the front, pushing in to get ahead of others. There was a general melee with old folks fighting to maintain their position in line. It brought out the worst in human behavior.
Newspaper accounts the next day of the fiasco spoke of disappointed seniors so tired after standing all night that they could hardly make it back to their cars in a distant parking lot.
The public outcry was so great officials decided they needed a system where seniors would first make appointments for the shots. They developed a call-in system where seniors merely called the given telephone number at 9 a.m. on a certain day to arrange one.
We had skipped the in-person waiting all night in line but decided to try calling the prescribed number at the appointed time along with who knows how many seniors trying for an appointment. Not unsurprisingly, the line was busy. My husband and I each called about 25 times, but received busy signals or a recording to call back later. It turned out the system simply could not handle such a huge number of calls.
Then public health officials decided to go online using a popular concert booking venue that would manage dispensing appointments. The system initially crashed under the massive crush.
Soon after this, a CEO from the north was interviewed on TV and mentioned how easy it was for him to fly to Florida, get the vaccine, and then fly home. There was immediate uproar.
Soon Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis made it a rule one had to be a Sunshine State resident to get the shot and prove it by two documents, such as a Florida driver’s license, deed of Florida property, or recent utility bill.
The natives were aroused, however, and their anger passed from the initial resentment against tourists on vacation getting shots to those who owned property in Florida and spent winters in the state but were legal residents of other states. Angry letters to the editor attacked “snowbirds” apparently dismissing the fact they paid taxes just as Floridians did and greatly supported the state’s thriving economy. Again, the situation brought out the worst in human behavior.
Next the governor, decrying failing public health registration processes in getting vaccines to seniors, turned to the private sector and asked a large pharmacy chain to begin taking appointments and inoculating seniors. This seemed a good idea because the drug stores were plentiful and located conveniently near large numbers of senior citizens.
Thus, the supermarket chain Publix went online developing an efficient site on the Internet, but the competition for appointments opened at 6 a.m. making it extremely difficult for seniors who could hardly open their eyes at such an early hour, let alone function on a computer.
As for us, we are slow “hunt and peck typers” neither of us having ever taken typing lessons. We had little hopes of competing with 65 year olds who were speedy on computers.
Soon the older crowd began to feel application for a COVID-19 shot boiled down to passing a speed typing test. The complaints finally caused Publix to change their sign in hour to a more respectable 7 a.m.
Finally, it hit everyone that the entire smart phone-computer application system was not fair to another segment of the population.
How would those seniors who had no computers or smart phones get appointments?
After three weeks of arduously trying to get an appointment for a shot, (my husband) Chip finally saw the much sought after “Make an Appointment” sign flash on his screen. Hurrah! He could have two appointments for our first shot of COVID-19 vaccine! How we cheered.
Unfortunately, the site was at Pensacola in the Florida panhandle, an eight-hour drive each way. We decided that was a bit too far to drive for a COVID-19 shot.
Finally, at the end of the month, a discouraged Chip presented himself to the local Veterans Administration office. After all, he had served five years active duty in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War followed by 15 years in Naval Reserve duty. Surely, he could qualify for a measly COVID-19 shot? But no luck. The VA COVID-19 shots are only for needy vets.
“But I am needy,” the retired lawyer responded. “I need a Covid shot!” To no avail. Chip was not needy enough.
“Thank you for your service!” the man at the VA desk called out cheerfully as my 83-year-old Navy vet husband left the building.
My one hope in sharing our experiences in Florida is that it will offer some helpful guidance to Virginia as it rolls out its COVID-19 vaccination program, so that many more seniors do not have to suffer from the same frustrations we have experienced. In the meantime, good luck, seniors, in getting your shots.
© 2021
